SACD price differences (1 Viewer)

[KeithH]

Rodney said:

As for what they did do right-well, they took my $ and sent out the product, certainly it wasn't anything "wrong" but that should be the kind of service anyone should beable to offer

Other dealers should do what Oade Bros. does, but other dealers simply are not as cheap as Oade Bros. Some will match Oade Bros.' prices in some instances, but you have to haggle first. Oade Bros. has the best prices right off the bat.

Sorry you had a "bad" experience with Oade Bros., but I am not surprised by what you observed in trying to upgrade through them. That is not Oade Bros.' business. Your 'C222ES would have been a return like any other, and they have a standard policy of charging a restocking fee. It is true that you would have been buying a 'C555ES from them, but that doesn't change the fact that they would have been "stuck" with an open-box 'C222ES. They would have taken a loss on it to sell it as an open-box item (probably their only choice), so they recoup that loss by charging a restocking fee. Restocking fees prevent people from ordering items to simply try them out at home. Thus, they are looking for serious buyers. I understand Oade Bros.' policy.

In my experience, Oade Bros. is fast with e-mail responses, but things happen (high volume of e-mail messages, other things to do in life, etc.). Oade Bros. has very courteous and knowledgable salespeople and that combined with their low prices makes them great to deal with in my opinion. The restocking fee is a bummer, but I always try to research things thoroughly before buying so that the restocking fee doesn't become an issue.

In the future, you should order from J&R Music World. They will often match Oade Bros.' price (not always), and they do not charge a restocking fee. J&R will accept a return for a full refund within 30 days. You just pay return shipping. J&R is a very large operation, so you could have returned the 'C222ES for a full refund and then a few days later, ordered the 'C555ES from them. Chances are, you would have gotten a different salesman each time. Even if you were to get the same salesman, he probably wouldn't remember you or even care that you were returning one player and then buying another. Who knows, J&R might not even care if you returned the 'C222ES and bought a 'C555ES in one phone call. Something to think about for the future.

Finally, if you really are curious about trying the 'C555ES, you could buy one from J&R and do a side-by-side comparison with the 'C222ES. If you found that the 'C555ES were the better player (which it is in my opinion), you could sell the 'C222ES on this site, eBay, or Audiogon. You probably wouldn't lose too much money on the 'C222ES. Of course, if you found that the 'C222ES held it own just fine, you could return the 'C555ES for a full refund, again, minus return shipping. Something else to think about.

 

[rodneyH]

Keith, good Idea, I might have to try that down the road (I would want to wait until I own a lot of SACDs, of course by the time that happens, there will be a new 666 or 888 out or something).

I am in the process of buying a new amp (very big upgrade) and will be out of "funds" for a while.

 

[Thomas_Berg]

Rodney- make sure you check Audiogon for a good used amp before you pull the trigger elsewhere. amps are one of the few things where it's perfectly to buy used. (makes more sense IMO.)

good luck!

 

[rodneyH]

Thomas, thanks for the advice, I actually have a freind in the bussiness and he is getting me a new amp for almost 60% OFF retail (it was a CES demo, so technically it isn't "new" but good enough)